1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to aircraft and, in particular, to aircraft employing composite parts. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to circuit systems formed on a composite fuselage.
2. Background
Aircraft are being designed and manufactured with greater and greater percentages of composite materials. Composite materials are used in aircraft to decrease the weight of the aircraft. This decreased weight improves performance features such as payload capacity and fuel efficiency. Further, composite materials provide longer service life for various components in an aircraft.
Composite materials may be tough, light-weight materials created by combining two or more functional components. For example, a composite material may include reinforcing fibers bound in a polymer resin matrix. The fibers may be unidirectional or may take the form of a woven cloth or fabric. The fibers and resins may be arranged and cured to form a composite structure.
Using composite materials to create aerospace composite structures may allow for portions of an aircraft to be manufactured in larger pieces or sections. For example, a fuselage in an aircraft may be created in cylindrical sections and then assembled to form the fuselage of the aircraft. Other examples include, without limitation, wing sections joined to form a wing or stabilizer sections joined to form a stabilizer.
In manufacturing composite structures, layers of composite material may be laid up on a tool. The layers of composite material may be comprised of fibers in sheets. These sheets may take the form of, for example, without limitation, fabrics, tape, tows, or other suitable configurations for the sheets. In some cases, resin may be infused or pre-impregnated into the sheets. These types of sheets are commonly referred to as prepreg.
After the different layers of composite material have been laid up on the tool, the layers of composite material may be consolidated and cured upon exposure to temperature and pressure, thus forming the final composite structure. This type of construction may greatly reduce the weight of the aircraft as compared to currently manufactured aircraft using metal components. However, the aircraft still includes various components that are not formed from composite materials. These components may add more the weight and may use more space within the aircraft than desired.
Even with these types of weight and space savings, the amount of weight of an aircraft still may be greater than desired and the amount of space available for passengers may not be as great as desired. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that takes into account at least some of the issues discussed above, as well as other possible issues.